Chemical Composition of Newbouldia Laevis (P. Bauv) Used in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus in Nigeria

Diabetis mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disease that affects both Humans and animals. The prevalence of DM is on the increase especially in the developing countries due to sedentary lifestyle and nutrition habits. Most people in these countries and elsewhere that suffers from chronic diseases take some form of herbal drugs either alone or in combination with orthodox medicine. These herbal drugs act based on their phytochemical composition. In this work, we examine the composition of one of the plants Newbouldia laevis, used in the treatment of diabetes in Africa generally in folk medicine. The result reveals the presence of alkaloids, Saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins and cyanide (21.73±0.36, 15.99±0.04, 40.78±0.27, 12.13±0.01, 0.088±0.06 and 1.03±0.02)% respectively. It also contain both heavy metals which are implicated in diabetes such as Lead (29.80±2.84 mg/100g) and Mercury (12.62±0.02 PPM) as well as trace elements such as selenium (11.51±0.5) mg/100g and chromium (8.31±0.03) PPM which are beneficial in the treatment of diabetes. The plants also contain Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and E in that order (1190.3±0.41 iu/l, 5.50±0.05 mg/100g, 0.95±0.05 mg/100g, 1.93±0.07 mg/100g, and 1.92±0.02% and 5.81±0.03 mg/kg respectively in reasonable quantities. The proximate analysis indicated the presence of carbohydrate, protein, lipids, fibre, ash and moisture in various percentages. It is therefore observed that the pharmacological activities of the extract may principally be due to its phytochemical, elemental and Vitamin compositions. It is important to be careful of the heavy metals and cyanide presences which may pose some health challenges in prolong usage.